Second Greatest Story Ever Told

Library JournalIn 1988 the world is astounded when Ilona Coggswater, born in Cooperstown, New York in 1970, reveals herself to be the daughter of God. Ilona is a modern-day deity who guzzles Tab and Rolling Rock beer, and calls her heavenly father ''Dad.'' She's a card-carrying liberal who despises fundamentalists, the National Rifle Association, and the often-vilified Randall Terry of Operation: Rescue. Ilona's story, her encounters with David Letterman, her visit to Hell with ''Dad'' and ''Jerry,'' the devil, cry for a humor and wit that the author just doesn't deliver. This story is flat, enlivened only by the clever titles that Bechard has created for the books that anyone and everyone who has known Ilona has written. The political jabs are so pointed and relentless that this novel often seems to serve as the author's personal soapbox. Not recomended.-- Lydia Burruel Johnson, Mesa P.L., Ariz.